INVEST2INNOVATE PAKISTAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM REPORT 2019 INVEST2INNOVATE PAKISTAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM REPORT 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments 5 Executive Summary 6 Introduction 10 1 1.1 Methodology and Scope of Study 14 1.1.1 Instruments 15 1.1.2 Sampling 15 Ecosystem Overview 16 2 2.1 Entrepreneurship Support Organizations 21 2.1.1 The Role of Government in Ecosystem Support 21 2.1.2 The Role of Corporations in Ecosystem Support 22 2.1.3 The Role of Private Sector Support Players 23 2.2 Finance 25 2.2.1 Deal Flow Analysis (2015 - 2019) 25 2.2.2 The Role of Grant Capital 29 2.2.3 The Role of Angel Investors 29 2.2.4 The Emergence of the Venture Capital Landscape 31 2.2.5 Growth of Local Funds 31 2.2.6 Rising Interest from International Funds 32 2.2.7 Role of the Pakistani Diaspora in Financing 33 Gaps & Challenges 34 3 3.1 Support Organizations 36 3.2 Finance 39 3.3 Policy & Regulatory Environment 41 3.4 The Gender Lens 46 Recommendations & Way Forward 50 4 Conclusion 55 Glossary 56 Appendix A 62 Appendix B 75 Appendix C 97 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was authored by Ambareen Baig, Kalsoom Lakhani and Areej Mehdi (Invest2Innovate - i2i) The analysis in the report draws on both secondary and primary data collected by the i2i team including Kalsoom Lakhani, Ambareen Baig, Areej Mehdi, Ahsan Mukhtar, Rohma Labeeb, Muhammad Mubashir, Warda Malik, Aarti Lila Raam and Emaan Malik. The report benefitted from ongoing technical guidance and inputs provided by the World Bank team including, Komal Mohindra, Aun Ali Rahman, Sarmad Shaikh, and Meenah Tariq. Additional review and guidance was provided by Nabila Assaf, Shabih Mohib, Michael Ehst and Peter McConaghy. The team would like to thank all who contributed to the report at different stages and in different ways. This includes ecosystem stakeholders such as investors, leaders/ managers from incubators and accelerators, individuals working for policy reforms in Pakistan, etc. for extensive discussions, interactions, suggestions and insights provided during interviews conducted with them for this report. For a full list of stakeholders, please see Appendix C. This report is made possible in part due to financial support from the Women Entrepreneurs’ Finance Initiative (We-Fi), a collaborative partnership among 14 governments, eight multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group. AUTHOR’S NOTE We realize the Pakistan startup ecosystem is ever-evolving, and while we have done our best to keep the report as up to date as possible, we will note that the study is reflective of the current state of the startup ecosystem as of October 29, 2019. As a result, the deal flow analysis and study does not include USD $12 million raised by Airlift in a significant Series A round led by First Round Capital, a U.S.-based venture capital fund, or the USD $1.6 million Seed round raised by TelloTalk, which were announced on November 1 and 3 respectively. The Airlift Series A round in particular is a significant development for the Pakistan startup ecosystem not just due to the size of the round but also because of the participation of a major U.S.-based venture capital fund (which has previously invested in startups like Uber and Square). This deal could be a positive signal for other U.S.-based funds to potentially invest in the Pakistan market in the future. 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Pakistan’s digital entrepreneurship ecosystem has been growing since 2012 with an increasing number of events, activities, support players, funders, and of course, startups. Globally, startups are an important part of opportunity entrepreneurship, and they can contribute to job creation and economic growth. The growing number of young, technology-savvy Pakistanis matches well with this growth in the startup landscape. According to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) National Human Development Report (NHDR), Pakistan needs to create 1.3 million additional jobs on average every year, as the number of working age people will grow from 4 million to 5 million by 2035. A strong innovation economy can help address this need. While Pakistan’s digital startup landscape has grown significantly in the past seven years, the ecosystem has its share of challenges, particularly when it comes to regulations, access to early stage capital, and the gender gap in the entrepreneurship space. This study delves into the current entrepreneurial environment for digital start- ups, highlighting the trends, gaps and challenges facing entrepreneurs and investors, and includes recommendations on how to progress in the future. In examining the evolution of the technology startup ecosystem in Pakistan, the sheer growth in the number of players and stakeholders is significant. In 2012, there were just two major business incubators and accelerators in the country, with almost no investors and funding sources.1 In comparison, in 2019, there are now over 24 incubators and accelerators, 80 coworking spaces, and approximately 20 formal investors who are players in Pakistan. Early on, the Pakistan government played a role in the startup ecosystem at the provincial level, namely in Punjab province, where the provincial government set up the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and launched efforts like Plan9, a technology incubator, in Lahore. Since 2016, the federal government, via Ignite (formerly known as the National ICT R&D Fund), under the IT Ministry, initiated funding around National Incubation Centers (NICs) across the country, which are public-private partnerships that were formed after a competitive bidding process. The first NIC was established in Islamabad as a partnership between Teamup and Jazz in 2016, with NIC Lahore launching in 2017 as a partnership between Fatima Ventures and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), one of Pakistan’s top universities that previously launched and ran the LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship (LCE)2. In 2018, three other NICs launched within the span of six months in the cities of Peshawar, Karachi, and Quetta3. Collectively, all five NICs have graduated over 200 startups. 1 Pakistan Development Update, November 2017. 2 In winning the bid, LCE transitioned its work to the design and launch of the NIC Lahore. 3 NIC Karachi and Peshawar are run as a partnership between LMKT and TiE Islamabad; while NIC Quetta is run between LUMS and BUITEMS, a university based in Quetta. 6 Private sector players have also played a key role in supporting digital entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Corporates are involved as supporters and sponsors of initiatives like Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Standard Chartered Bank, and even have launched their own standalone support programs like Telenor Velocity and Jazz xlr8. Players like the Nest i/o and Invest2Innovate have gone beyond their flagship incubation and acceleration programs to release research, run conferences, competitions and startup events, and launch venture funds. Coworking spaces like the Hive and Daftarkhwan have launched branches in other cities and locations, servicing the growing number of freelancers, founders, and companies. Business and industry trade associations like P@SHA and TiE bring together industry leaders, run awards and competitions, and also advocate and lobby for policy change. On the funding side, there has been an overall increase in the number of deals and investment funds since 2015. While there were 101 deals this study recorded between 2015-19 in Pakistan-based companies, about 47 of those occurred in just the past two years (2018-19). Of those investments, about 22% were funded by venture capital funds, while about 44% were funded by angel investors (either syndicates or individuals). Most investments continue to occur at the pre-seed and seed-stage level, which highlights the need for more quality early-stage funders - donors, angel investors, and funds. The launch of new local funds focused on Pakistan in the past two years like Sarmayacar, i2i Ventures, 47 Ventures, TPL e-Ventures, Fatima Ventures, and Lakson Investments, are all strong indicators of where the venture capital landscape is moving. These funds all invest at the early-stage, ranging from seed-stage to Series A. The growth of this landscape is significant as the startup ecosystem also grows, and there are two interesting trends worth noting: first, most funds are sector-agnostic and do not exclusively invest in one particular stage of a company’s growth. While most funds do look at technology-enabled ventures, their desire to be more flexible is a reflection on the nascency of the market (with growing quality deal flow). Most funds also recognize the need to diversify their investment approach by investing in different funding rounds. Given that Pakistan is a market with scarce resources, investors may have to inject more money in a company’s future and could participate in follow-on rounds of capital. This approach will ideally support the growth of startups in the long-term, and at least ensure more deals make it to Series A financing. This is important as we think about the life cycle of a startup and the financing and support 7 that is needed as a company grows and scales its operations over time. As more international funds enter or look to enter the Pakistan market, getting early-stage deals ready for growth is vital, as is fostering collaborations between international investors and funds on the ground, who understand the local context and can help outside players navigate the landscape. All in all, the buzz is very much alive in Pakistan, and it is ever increasing. However, many challenges do remain. Key findings from the study show that more tech hubs and infrastructure support are needed to support the innovation economy.